As the opportunities expand to enhance facility operation through automation, the time has come to create a master plan for the organization’s building automation system (BAS). Whether the plan includes a single building, a building complex, or a national corporation, it needs to define the way to complete interoperability in a gradual, efficient manner.
This planning is required to take advantage of the continuing standardization and acceptance of certain BAS “open protocols.” As these open protocols hold out the promise of simpler and more efficient BAS operation, they also require some decisions. Although it is too early to make all the decisions, it is not too early to form the basis for an enterprise migration to an open protocol BAS.